One of the most beautiful things in life is when you suddenly see the things around you as if they are all new. That feeling has been sneaking up on me often this year – I suddenly look at and think about the world, and it generates a feeling of great happiness as I marvel at the beauty and the complexity of it all.

Three days ago I was travelling for 7 hours in the open back of a pick-truck with 23 other people, my hair was sticking out like Medusas, grit covered every part of my body, mouth and eyes. Shoulder under shoulder with my travelling companions I was filled with the warmth of having shared these past months of my life with their countrywomyn and men. The afternoon turned to evening, and to night, and a fat yellow moon lit the faces of people sleeping around me as we sped through the night. I had one of those moments when you feel totally alive, so alive you’re bursting with it. It was a long journey, and despite travelling much of Cambodia’s back roads in this style I still haven’t got the hang of sleeping while bouncing off and on my seat regularly, so had time to ponder - as houses lit by small glowing fires sped by.

I have been keeping a diary of the thoughts and mental journeys I have been undertaking this year. I have under two weeks left of work, before I travel with my family into Lao by bicycle and then on to Aotearoa. My thoughts are totally scrambled at the moment, but hopefully over time they will consolidate, taking on forms which I will be able to express to people, but for now I would like to cut and paste some exerts from my diary.

But first I want to share an excerpt a dear friend sent me (thank you!) during one of the low moments here – it is one that has helped me accept that which I cannot change, and helped me accept and embrace my involvement in this world, my home, despite being far away from familiar surroundings.

“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of you body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place in the family of things”

Mary Oliver, "wild gesse"

***

“I’m in a rainstorm in Phnom Penh, sheltering under a tree, squatting on the ground, I’ve got a bag of eggs from the market, my checked kroma (Khmer scarf), my diary, and my camera. The thunder and lightening is amazing, the traffic is buzzing, the grass is the most amazing green, the sky is heavy grey, the people are colourful. I feel alive. I feel happy. I feel like I’m in the most vibrant place on earth. How cool to be alive!

This city is amazing, and it’s growing on me. It’s taking on less of an anonymous form, it’s people are becoming characters I recognise, it’s streets are now familiar, it’s smells are comforting, it’s sounds beginning to signify every day life for me. I think, at last, I am beginning to fall in love with this place”.

***
During a recent discussion with two Canadians who thoroughly stimulated my mind, one brought up the statement; “Why must North America change its culture to ‘save’ the world? Especially while ‘developing’ countries cultures can also damage the environment, but we allow them to preserve their culture at this cost”. (Out of context this perhaps gives a different portrayal of their character than I mean to… so ignore that for now).

After a good few hours of discussion, on this and similar topics I concluded in my mind that the flaw in this statement is to expect that any culture remains stagnant and unchanging. Culture is constantly evolving and changing, and it is within our power (as the people of a culture), to have some effect on that evolution, and, if we choose, to encourage it evolve in an environmentally sustainable/globally positive way. We have that choice, and it’s not about forcing a culture to change, or losing our culture, but about using the knowledge we have about the world, and using the power that self determination gives us, and choosing how we want our culture to evolve and develop.

***

One memorable interaction here with cultural/local knowledge sticks in my mind… When first arriving at work, I noticed that the condensed milk (standard here, rather than fresh stuff) was kept in a little bowl half filled with water. I mentally wondered how that was supposed to keep it cool and stop it from going off, and thought it a strange attempt at refrigeration – especially as the 40 degree temperatures had warmed up the surrounding water anyway. A few weeks later I realised that ants can’t swim – hence the moat around sweet milk (which, by the way, doesn’t seem to need refrigeration in the least).

It is a good, all be it slightly abstract, reminder (should it be needed), that everyone who is alive today, and every culture, has survived as successfully as any other. In the case of those like Cambodia, they have perhaps survived rather more trying times, at least during recent dates, than that of the ‘highly developed and successful’ ‘West’. That fact that people are alive shows that they and their ancestors and cultures have adapted, overcome and used effective systems to survive to the present age. Go the human race, with all its little tricks of the trade.

***

Many weekends have been spent in the company of a much loved friend who is a young Doctor here, supported by a French Church. In his company, and his quiet, strong faith, we have been pausing for Grace before each meal. Taking turns at saying it in Arabic, English, Maori and French (the household has been incredibly and delightfully varied this year). Reflection on this process, and a growing awareness of the importance of food – and how much we take it for granted, has encouraged the development of another kind of awareness and thankfulness in this small household.

To stop for a moment before eating, reminding ourselves that this food hasn’t appeared from nowhere. What part of the world and which animals have contributed to this plate before us now? To thank and respect those (often literally hundreds) of people who have been involved in the process. To remember that some have been harmed (through use of chemicals, un fair labour conditions, un fair pay, difficult social and environmental situations encountered en-route from growth or production in one part of the world, to consumption in another), and are perhaps suffering now, while we enjoy good food in good company. Further to remember that it IS within our power to bring food to other people, to purchase food which ensures a good wage to those who produce it, which ensures preservation of the environment, which minimises harm to other species on the earth. So, we thank those who have given so much in order that we may eat this, and we remember what a delight eating is for us, and do our best not to prevent – and instead intentionally act – so that others may also enjoy this delight.

Please keep this in mind when next buying food. Local markets, home country grown, least transported and organic produce is a good way to support the communities close to home, reduce the amount of money and resources spent on transporting food, and look after the environment (of ours and others). For luxuries, which don’t grow close to home, fair trade stores and sections of supermarkets offer chocolate, coffee, and even rice, oils and other staples which have been produced at a fair price, often under organic conditions. And if you find yourself in a position to share the enjoyment of feeling full, go for it!

For those in Dunedin check out the Fair trade store on George st, ‘Taste Nature’ in Moray place and the Farmers Market – Saturdays at the railway station (other suggestions, stick them in the comments section!).

Often it’s not too expensive, especially when you start buying more from the ‘needs’ list, rather than the wants list. Also, “the world needs to stop thinking in money and start thinking in energy”. This quote was read in the Pacific Ecologist (my new favourite magazine – thank you Sophie and Hazzah!). It’s about the need to start taking responsibility for our lifestyle, and our choices. Because that is what they are - Choices, choices with consequences, and not just for ourselves.

***

One more discussion topic has centred on my growing awareness that being able to freely move from one country to another is yet a further aspect of my life that many in the West take for granted. Scores of people here simply do not have a birth certificate or any registration of their being alive. This in itself is no problem, however in today’s society no recognition of being alive means no passport, which means no leaving your country of birth (even if they have no idea you’re a citizen). In addition, I have been shocked to understand the reality of being from an ‘undesired’ country through talking to friends from ‘terrorist’ countries, and how this affects their life choices – as most countries will either refuse entry or demand ridiculous fees to ‘consider’ visa applications [and all this argument takes place aside from the obvious differences in wealth throughout the world, which render travel affordable or not in the first place].

This is another area to quietly (or not so quietly) ponder, as we freely, and perhaps unfairly (?) move around and sample the world, while others are restricted to war zones, famine zones and countries which they would rather leave, but are prohibited from doing so.

“Who is it who has the right to say you have to pay to leave an artificial boundary?”

***

Some environmental things to consider:

WATER

Not flushing the toilet every time we pee (if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down).

Fill a sink or basin for washing dishes, and turn the tap on and off as you need water for teeth cleaning.

Save energy in the shower by having short showers, cold showers if you can, and try switching off the shower while you soap up, then back on for a rinse off.

In addition use eco friendly, bio degradable and environmentally safe alternatives to the traditional house and body cleaning products. What goes down the drain ultimately ends up in our environment – and it’s we who can stop putting it there! Go us!

But New Zealand isn’t short of water… However, water coming into our homes has been collected, treated and transported at a high energy and environmental cost, and (ideally) when we flush or run it down the sink it goes through another collection, transportation and treatment process. It’s a good idea to reduce this cost on the planet and save litres of consumption quality water at very little (if any) inconvenience to ourselves by little tricks like the ones above.

'INTENTIONAL' EATING

Get creative, I have already talked above about buying local, fair trade and organic. One other area is to reduce meat consumption…

Think vegetarian, vegan, intentional omnivore, freegan... the list goes on, and once again it is up to you how you define what you are happy with in terms of your own sustainable lifestyle choices.

But check out discussions around the impact that consuming large quantities of meat, and meat products, has on the environment (there is tones of info on the web, as well as bunches of funky, delicious vegetarian recipes).

For me at the moment, I’m vegetarian, and plan to re-introduce veganism to my home when I get back – although include locally produced, organic dairy products (eggs and milk products) when I can source them.

***

It is so hard to explain all that I have seen and felt and learnt this year. Yet at the same time I feel it is no more or no less than I could have learnt anywhere. I have spent many hours explaining myself to people here who call me ‘lucky to have such good money to travel and buy everything I want, and live in America’. My explanations often centre around attempting to install more pride and feeling of luck for those who feel they don’t have it.

It’s a difficult situation to be in, and I don’t deny that I am lucky (to be born where I was, to be free from persecution, to be blessed with many many opportunities, to have been in a situation to take up those opportunities), but luck is something universal (?). In some ways I feel I am going to go home and still be answering the same remarks. That people wish they had had the opportunity to live in Cambodia for a year and learn, and see and experience so much. What I want to say on this note, is that life surrounds all of us, wherever we are and whatever we are doing – and a years worth of learning can be as large or small as we choose to make it, regardless of where we are (*see the note below*). At times I have felt I have contributed, and learnt little during my time here, as I cry in frustration at difficulties and problems, and areas that I just can not access or contribute to. But at other times my eyes are open to the changes that have happened within me and around me, not just here in Cambodia, but throughout my whole life.

*Just to add to this though, and perhaps open up another discussion, I copied this conversation snippet into my diary after travelling to Ratanakiri (the far North East province of Cambodia) with Lauren and Rachael:

“You’re so lucky to have good money to be able to travel” – “It’s the truth, but we resent it, often deny it, and feel a twinge of un-comfort with that reality.”

***

Finally: On one rainy Sunday I scribbled a note to myself to help me work my way through the days here in Cambodia (and beyond). Entitled: To have a positive effect on the world:”

  1. Educate (ie share ideas) and encourage others
  2. do no harm
  3. plant trees (native ones)
  4. work for positive differences in your realm, be active, identify problems/improvements, negotiate and implement change
  5. Build good relationships around you. People are important.

All of the above is sure to be riddled with contradictory thoughts and statements – and probably some blind ignorance too. But I hope it gets you thinking, maybe introduces some new concepts and ideas, and opens your mind in some way – as my mind has been opened by others too. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts and responses, so email me, or come for an organic goodness pot luck dinner in the New Year!

Home soon,
Arohanui,

xx Anna

Another few months to update all at once. It’s 5 months since I got here – and 5 months to go. I’m exactly half way.

THIS PAST MONTH (well, 3 of them):

-The discovery of Algeria

-Night riding through Phnom Penh by bicycle

-Frida

-Question… Is democracy the objective or the tool?

-My answer: “we seem to be spending a lot of time promoting one tool? So much energy on perfecting the tool and its correct use, that maybe we forget the objective?

-Quakers (“Beliefs are not just safe ledges in an uncertain reality, but rather handholds from which further heights can be reached”).

-Corruption, or just inefficiency?

-Nau te rorou, Naaku te rourou, Ka ora ai te iwi

-wild life = wild peace

-“A drawing is a conversation with yourself”

-Green hammock, balcony, mango tree, books, tomato seedlings, a cup of red bush tea with soy milk, and me.

-Nazim Hikemet

-Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

-Things fall apart (Chinua Achebe, 1958)

-Paul Farmer

-the importance of friends

-Israel

-The Be Good Tanyas


PHNOM PENH:


-there is a ‘cool’ young guard down the street, and when I pass him in either the morning or the evening (depending on his shift) he says with a cheeky smile; ‘Good evening pleasant looking woman’… I think it’s the ‘Khmenglish’ for ‘Hey good looking’. Makes me smile! I always say hello back, very politely, but make sure to call him ‘younger’ brother, (“Hi bro, how’s your day been kid?” – in Khmer) so he doesn’t get the wrong idea.

-There is a ginger dog that is always sitting on a stone seat when I’m coming back from work. It’s funny because there are beggars sitting on the ground leaning up against the wall just further down the road. It’s an odd roll reversal between animal and human.

-I burst out laughing in delight in the street the other day – as two shiny Lexus trucks (this city is full of them) were stuck behind an ox and cart close to my neighbourhood – I love it, that here in Phnom Penh the rich drive a Lexus, and the poor farmer comes in to sell his pottery, leading two ox pulling a cart… and they all use the same street (and the ox poops, and the Lexus toots, and everyone gets on very merrily).


-I’ve planted three Rhambutan plants, and three tomato seeds from an old rotting tomato – which have sprouted and look reasonably healthy. And I have a big bucket of compost too, soil production is an amazing process which everyone should be involved with (What happens to your organic wastes? Start composting today!).

-I’ve finished (pretty much) the workshop on communication – it’s 3 days and we will give it to union leaders to help them negotiate and communicate with their employers about better working conditions, pay, and other issues they are concerned about. Now I’m beginning a funding database project.

-My house is a ‘circus’ (Oyston, 2007). I’ve got a flatmate from America until next Monday, and currently her boyfriend is staying. I have a young German lass sleeping on the blue mat in the lounge. Tonight another tall American is turning up to claim the red couch, and my white sheets usually have Rach (VSA) and I giggling and sleeping on for a good 4 days of the week. Amongst all that my land lady is usually swishing her broom around, the landlord is carefully keeping an eye on which boys are coming and going, and their son is grinning from ear to ear and asking if I’m going out to ‘nyum bai?’. I love it, it’s so lively and chaotic and happy. Pete is turning up in two weeks – which is going to be fantastic – I can’t wait to take you out for iced coffee, and introduce you to the women at the market, and show you the little ‘cottage’ on our street (which sticks out of all the other flash, gated, razor wired, guarded houses – this wee one doesn’t have a Lexus in it’s driveway, it has chickens!).

-I had to confiscate a polystyrene box from the chickens last week – they were pecking away at it and eating the little white flakes. I was worried that their tummies would be full of plastic, but they seem to be happy as ever today… one was sitting on a branch while the others ate the leaves, they had to jump up to get the leaves and would pull it down each time until some of the leaf broke off – and the one sitting on it would get bounced around, a bit like a swing or something!

-I went out for dinner with a friend tonight, and on the way home we passed a big pile of rubbish, and a cheeky, chirpy and dirty little childs head popped out from amongst it and called out hello and waved as we passed.

-I like bike riding through the city at night – everything seems ‘smooth’ (and you’ll just have to come here and try it to understand what I mean).

THAILAND:


A few weeks ago a friend from the states, who I met studying Anthropology in New Zealand came to visit. We spent some cool days around Phnom Penh, and then jumped on the bus across the border to Thailand, and trained up to Chiang Mai. From there we took a vegetable delivery van (yes) to a little sustainable living project, called the Panya Project (http://www.panyaproject.org/). Look here for some more photos from the trip (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40749&l=5cdf8&id=720375081). It was very cool, and I’m looking forward to going back in the next few months. On the way back I had heaps of hassles with the tourist bus on the way back, because I asserted that tourist visas were only US$20 to get into Cambodia (when they were attempting to get everyone to hand over their passports along with US$35!!!!). So I was the most unpopular passenger of the year, and felt quite scared and upset (they weren’t very nice to me after I opened my mouth). It was nice to get back into ruggard, rough and ‘under developed’ Cambodia! Although I thought Northern Thailand was pretty sweet. It was nice to have mountains, and green things. Cambodian is surprisingly red/orange – although all the rains are growing good rice and things are getting greener.

KEP:

Last weekend the ‘labour team’ had a weekend retreat down to Kep (the sea-side). They are such a fun group of people, so it was nice to spend a social weekend with them, out of the office. We (they) ate 8kg of crabs in two sittings, we swam between a couple of bays (and got a bit sunburnt), lazed on the beach, got abandoned by the boat which dropped us off at Rabbit Island, stayed in a beautiful resort with a stunning view of the waters edge, and had a mad mad mad mini bus driver – which just added to the whole experience. There have been some cool American Law interns here for the last few months, but they are all beginning to head home now – I will miss having them around.


EVENINGS AND WEEKEND EVENINGS:

Evening which aren’t spent in deep conversation with Rach, in the kitchen making rice milk, ice cream, lentils and couscous, have been spent out in bars and restaurants around Phnom Penh, or at house parties. There is a famous ex-pat party at ‘Elsewhere’ on the first Friday of every night – everyone who is anyone goes, and it’s like going to explore a zoo. There is a pool so you can watch the water animals swim, a jungle for the monkeys and shy animals that like to hide in logs and around tables, there is a little underground cave/bar thingy for the underground and cave animals, a pit type area, where lots of dancing behaviour can be observed, and a glassed in aviary for the bird like animals, who flit around in the light. There are frequent mating rituals, much showing off of plumage and each party brings the months new ‘fresh meat’ for the ex-pat community to feast upon. Highly entertaining!

There was also a birthday party last weekend, which was good fun – it was for an Algerian friend, who is a young Dr working in Tekao and Kampot, so we all dressed up according to the theme (Arabs), and munched on his lovely Algerian birthday kai (think little pastries boiled in honey, rose water treats, pistachio cakes that sort of thing – he had done some wonderful cooking, and his mama had send across some delicacies from Algeria for us all to saviour! Made a change from rice and morning glory – although I’m loving the Cambodian food!). More photos from the party can be seen here (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41917&l=26c49&id=720375081)

TROPICAL DISEASE:

On the not so cheery side, there is a bit of dengue epidemic here (carried by urban daytime mosquitoes with stripy legs, potentially deadly, no vaccination or cure, 90% more cases so far this year compared with last year) – and two VSAers have already been evacuated to Bangkok – I’m being ultra careful because I’ve already had dengue, so if I get it again it’s more dangerous. Unfortunately for my body that means deet…

I’ve been lucky to only have minor tummy upsets (the worse has been about a week long). I think my D-diving training since 2003 has paid off in more ways than one, and I now have a cast iron stomach (touch wood).

NEXT UP…

so I can’t believe 5 months has already been and gone – but when I think of all that has happened, and think that I have the same amount of time to go, I realise there is a lot yet to take place before I leave here. I’m sure home-time will come too fast – time seems to move exponentially. The next wee while brings –


More exploring of Phnom Penh

A bunch more language learning

Possibly a trip to Ratinakiri to participate in groundwork for a land alienation case

The arrival of Don Pedro in Phnom Penh

Another trip to Thailand to work on mud house building and perrmaculture

The regular attendance of ‘cultural evenings’ and concerts with Rach

Ness and Carolyn

Several more inches of growth on my tomato plants

Reading a large quantity of good books

Much much more mopping up of water (my roof leaks when we get heavy rain, once a day at the moment)

More fruit smoothies

Em

Lao explorations

A trip to Svay Rieng to see Fiona

Discovering more cool parts of this amazing city

(another) Trip to the temples – this time with cool reflections and a lot of water lilies

Some more proposal writing

My parents arriving

Giving a workshop

Some crazy bike trips to the provinces

Drinking of coconuts (endless)

My little brother

Nazim Higmits poetry (more of it)

Transplanting my plants into bigger pots – and finding a new home for them when I go.

Dreams of a red mini and a trip to Timbuktu

A very cool month cycling through Cambodia, Lao, Thailand – where ever the wind takes us….

And that will do for now!


Love you all very much

Kisses and hugs

Xxox

Anna

PHOTOS FROM OUR EXPEDITION INTO BOKOR NATIONAL PARK...

We had been warned before we left that we should be a little careful about which ranger we took out into the forest - many of them are ex army personal, who are stuck up in this national park on a very low wage for a long period of time.... ...when we were organising to go for a 'hike', we asked; "we have heard that sometimes it isn't safe for women to go out alone with the guards, that they are sometimes unsafe. Is it okay for just the two of us to go?" (I was travelling with another girl from work)... the reply? "Oh no, dont worry, no problem the rangers carry large guns with them". Hehehe not quite the reasuring answer we were looking for - but our ranger, Vichet, who was 22 and very fun. Good English and a sweet sweet personality. He showed us "where the tiger sleeps" (under an overhanging rock), and showed us which carnivorious plant produces its own water which is safe for human consumption (he gave me some which I gulped down, only later realising that the water is actually used for drowning and digesting insects which the plant eats... but surely I would have felt it if any insects had gone down my throat? Surely? We ate wild berries, and had a close encounter with a PUMA with spots (demonstrated rather than spoken) - which we guessed might be a leopard?? (or perhaps some other wild animal that hurtled through the jungle at an alarming pace close by us, causing Viched to swing his gun up, and us to feel very small, insignificant and vulnerable temporarly)
I was fascinated by the gun, which we were told came from the Vietnamese during the Pol Pot times... I wonder if it still even went? Glad we didn't get to find out.
Jack - this frog is simply for you... for the rest of my life I will think of you every time I see a frog.
Ruined church, washer woman style 'Kroma' (Khmer/Cambodian Scarf), misty mountains, not a sole around, plateau on the mountain, jungle down each side, coast in the distance in one direction and national park into the distance on the other... YAY
More gun shots... sorry!
More photos from Bokor National Park (I think I'm doing this in the wrong order... Intro to Bokor is below this post)...
Floating down the river on a long boat with a grass roof. As in Khmer houses, you have to leave your shoes at the boat 'door' too!
This was our happy guide we met up with on day 2 of our explorations. A very happy chappy.
this was an amazing, and huge spider we saw. Tried to work out what it was called and think it's something close to 'dragon spider'... ?? ... very poisonous apparently, and massive. Bird like!

Hard to captuer it (designed to be invisible I guess, so that food will fly at it), but you can see it in this photo - and for a size reference check out the spider and the camera lens in the other photo!
This was us on the last day, just before we jumped on the boat and headed back down stream to Kampot.
JUNGLE ADVENTURES IN BOKOR NATIONAL PARK



24th June 07

Lots of photos to put up today. Spent last weekend on a trip down to Bokor National Park with one of the girls from work, we headed up into the park by taxi, stayed the night in a rangers 'hut' (big training center), and then spent 5 hours the next morning walking with one of the rangers (22 yr old Vichet) through the park. Had one close encounter with a large wild beast. As we were heading up the side of a valley, something large hurtled through the bush to our right, crashing bashing and going fast - could have been a wild pig or a big cat... we will never know... scary though, in an exciting way. We did a big bit of rubbish collection along the national park road at one point, and also wandered around the ruins of what was once a French retreat/resort in the area.

After our solo exploring we met up with a tour group (the cheapest way to get out of the national park), and had a bumpy ride down on the back of a pick up truck, before being deposited up river and floating down to the little town of Kampot where we stayed one last night. In the morning we hired a moto (scooter bike) and drove to Kep where we dipped our feet in to the ocean before racing back and jumping on our noon bus to Phnom Penh! Fantastic weekend! Great to be out of the city for a while - seeing the coast was something else, as was being up in the mountains and the forests - made me very happy!!

This was one of the better sections of road on our way up the mountain. The road was amazingly bad, in a very amazingly exciting way! Never thought we would die, but highly expected to write off the car. Turns out bottoming out several times, and covering uneven terrain at a ridiculous speed is the norm up this mountain.... as we found out on the way down, where I think Lindsay did think she was going to die (very insecurely attached to the back of a fast, bouncy truck!)

Me and Lindsay, exploring around Bokor National Park (one teeny bit of it).

This is looking into the national park, sea on the left, more Cambodia on the Right. Should be able to see a small temple along the ridge, but I think the photo is too small....

This is on the river trip at the end of our weekend, we had been up in the hills directly in front of us in this picture. Cambodia is beautiful! Still not used to seeing sugar palms around everywhere.
Out in the provinces, half an hour north of Phnom Penh (Tang Kang).
The village chiefs from one of the communes we visited
Some of the village people from Tang Kang - this woman was making a fish cheese or paste called 'Prohok'.
Kia Ora you lot!

A few more photos, and another quick update -

Work is going well - I'm mainly working on material and creating resources for a 4 day workshop on communication and negotiation skills. This will be given to employees of various industry sectors (for example garment workers) to help them with their union activities and achieving things like better wagers and working conditions. Its interesting - so far I've just been collecting general information - but the fun part starts soon when we think of ways to adapt the games, debates, examples and techniques we know to fit a Khmer setting... thankfully we have been warned that the lecture style is out, and games, role plays and interactive stuff is in. ... I'll get some photos!

Other than that I'm still working on advocacy letters, and case summaries for land dispute and eviction cases - a few of which have become very 'hot' over the last few days (google 'group 78' and Phnom Penh).

I have also got flatmate for the next two months! Very fun to have someone else around, and great to have someone to talk over all the thoughts that living here encourages! It happened just by chance, and was a bit rushed - so it wasn't until afterwards that we discovered we are both vegetarian, like to buy organic and local produce... and when all her stuff turned up, I noticed she had a climbing harness and a bright yellow Ortlieb pannier! It just keeps getting better and better!! Excitement grows, as do plans for adventure, and the number of late night cups of tea on the balcony.

I have been joining in on some of her projects too, where my time allows (hence, why I am now typing up a document on communication over dinner in my favourite little cafe, where I have just discovered I can also get internet on my laptop) - which has meant trips out to the provinces, much to my delight!

Anyway, my dinner is now ready, and I should get onto my document writing! But much love to you all, thinking of familiar faces, places and smiles lots!

kisses and hugs
xx
Anna